East Jessamine 96

**Stardust** · 02-10-2012, 09:17 PM

Down 18 points at the half and 11 points in the closing minutes, it took a total team effort from East Jessamine to pull off a thrilling 96-91 win over Dunbar

With only 1:23 remaining in the game, Dunbar converted on a pair of free throws to take an 80-69 lead over the Jaguars. Eastâs fate seemed to be sealed despite a hard-fought comeback earlier in the quarter. But the Jaguars would not be denied a chance to knock off a Region 11 opponent on its home floor.

âWe preach resiliency; weâve been going through tons and tons of scenarios in practice and trying to get them to understand that they have to believe in each other, and if they go as hard as they can, the sky is the limit. I think, I hope, they learn from tonightâs second half that if they play like that for 32 minutes thereâs nobody in the region that can touch them,â East Jessamine coach Chris OâBryan said. âBut theyâve got to bring that for 32 minutes, and if they do that, they can achieve great things.â

Senior Tashan Hairston came down the floor and knocked down a two-pointer to bring East within nine points with 1:07 remaining.

The East full-court press forced a turnover, and Timmy Bradshaw stepped back and took a 23-foot three-pointer from in front of the Jags bench. The trey fell, and East was suddenly alive, having cut the lead to 80-74 with 1:02 remaining.

The Bulldogs sank two more free throws on the other end, but Bradshaw stepped up again on the offensive end. From almost the exact same spot as before, he drained a three-pointer to make the score 82-77 with 47 seconds remaining.

âTimmy was not hitting anything ... and then to step up and hit the two threes that he did in the final minute is just remarkable on his part,â OâBryan said.

Two more âDog free throws pushed the lead back to seven points with 38 seconds on the clock.

Senior Cody Collins sank a basket for East to make it a five-point game. The Jaguars got another turnover and fed the ball to CJ Boyd. The guard picked his way through the defense and to the basket, drawing a foul and sinking his shot. His ensuing free throw brought East to within one basket at 84-82 with 16 seconds remaining.

âIt was just all the little things that they executed down the stretch; you canât coach that,â OâBryan said. â... I think every one of them at some point made great plays, CJ especially.â

On the defensive end, Cameron Thomas fouled out with 10 points. Dunbar missed both free throws to give East a chance following a Jagsâ timeout.

East had just 10 seconds, and they used every tick. After working the ball around to try and find Bradshaw down low, Collins was able to get free in the paint and bank the ball in at the buzzer. The basket tied the game 84-84 and sent the game to overtime.

â(The plan was to) get Timmy the ball cutting on the baseline, Cody was going to set a screen on the baseline and Timmy was going to come underneath. If Timmy wasnât open then Cody was going to turn and seal try and get the ball on the block. It worked. (Collins) ended up catching the ball right there on the block, and the ball barely went in (in time), but it squeaked in,â OâBryan said. âMy hatâs off to the kids. I canât sit here and take credit for that; thatâs all them. Thatâs just tremendous heart and tremendous pride and tremendous faith in one another to get the job done.â

East won the tip and held the ball for more than 80 seconds before even making a move. The Jaguars were able to strike first at the 2:24 mark of the four-minute extra period. Hairston drew a foul and went to the line, where he sank both attempts to give East its first lead of the night.